Dr John Bodkin Adams

Despite the not guilty verdict, the police still thought Adams was guilty, not just of two murders, but the deaths of many patients. The press appeared to share this opinion. A Fleet Street journalist at the time is known to have said that word on the street was that Adams had killed so many, and seemed so likely to kill so many more, that the police had been obliged to prosecute even though their case was ‘not quite ready’.
After the trial Adams resigned from the National Health Service. He was later convicted that same year for forging prescriptions, and ordered to pay a fine of £2,200. As a result he was struck off the Medical Register. Despite the bad press he received he successfully sued several newspapers for libel.
Adams spent his remaining days in Eastbourne, in spite of his tarnished reputation with some still believing that he had murdered at least eight people. Others, notably patients and friends, remained convinced of his innocence.
In 1961, he was reinstated as a general practitioner. On 4 July 1983, Adams died aged eighty-four. At the time of his death, his fortune was £402,970. He had been receiving legacies until his death.